Mozambique News Online (6) - 08/25/97

MOZAMBIQUE NEWS ONLINE/MOZAMBIQUE NEWS ONLINE/MOZAMBIQUE
NEWS ONLINE

Edition #6 25 August 1997

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In this edition:

Feature:

IMPENDING DROUGHT THREAT TO MOZAMBIQUE

Stories:

1. MEDICINAL PLANTS IDENTIFIED IN AIDS TREATMENT

2. IRON REDUCTION PLANT FOR BEIRA CITY

3. BUSINESSMEN UP IN ARMS OVER TAX EXEMPTIONS

4. POVERTY HELP TO NON-EXISTANT 50,000

5. BANK WORKERS TO BE FIRED

6. HASH SEIZED IN QUISSANGA

7. STRIKERS ACCUSE DIRECTOR OF STEALING

8. FAITH IN WATER SPIRITS

9. KWACHA VS. METICAL

10. NEW MOZAMBIQUE SOCCER STAR?

FEATURE:

IMPENDING DROUGHT THREAT TO MOZAMBIQUE

Mozambique is likely to face a new drought during the
1997/98 farming season. Organisations involved in
the country's food security say plans are under way
to reduce the negative effect of the expected calamity
which comes just after what they describe as a 'very
good' harvest campaign. Indications are that Mozambique
has harvested more than one million tonnes of maize,
ten percent above the 1996 record production of 947
thousand tonnes.

The regional Food Security Unit says the 1996/97 maize
crop is an all-time high achievement for Mozambique.
The Government is now working together with national
and international NGOs and institutions of the United
Nations in Mozambique to work out a plan aimed at lessening
the impact of drought due to the expected El-Nino effect
on the Southern African region.

The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries, has started a programme to make people
aware of the possibility of the disaster. Under the
programme, which focuses on the small farming sector,
agricultural advisors inform the peasants about the
imminence of the calamity using previous situations
as reference, encouraging them to cultivate crops resistant
to drought such as cassava and millet. Peasants are
also encouraged to use the humid areas along the valleys
of Mozambique, to grow vegetables.

"We tell people about the negative effects of drought
in the loss of crops and reduction of profit, its effect
in the reduction of seed stock and of livestock,"
said SÈrgio Gouveia, National Director of Agriculture.
He added that drought situations have various economic
and social implications saying that it could also cause
movement of people from their traditional homes in
search of better conditions. He also said district
and administrative officials and community leaders
were involved in the awareness campaigns so that they
could reach out to as many people as possible.

Other government institutions at the central level are
the Ministry for Coordination of Environment, the Department
for the Prevention and Combating of Natural Disasters
(DPCCN), and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and
Tourism through its department of Food Security.

The DPCCN, which is the unit responsible for the prevention
and combating of disasters, is now monitoring the situation
throughout the country. A senior official of the institutions
says all the provincial departments have been instructed
to design plans to prepare for the possibility of the
food crisis. "We are still involved in assisting
the victims of the floods which affected mostly the
central and northern region at the beginning of the
year," said Mr. Joao Zamisse. He said that the
affected populations in the Cabo Delgdo, Niassa and
Tete provinces might need food assistance until the
first harvest of the 1997-98 farming season. "These
regions were hit by floods during the first quarter
of the year which was immediately followed by a period
of drought. The second harvest of the 1996/97 campaign
has been declared lost and these people already need
free food assistance," said Zamissa.

Negomano, in the Cabo Delgado province, was affected
by a dry spell following planting in November and December
last year, which lasted until January. This was followed
in the subsequent months by heavy rains which destroyed
some crops, particularly those grown along the river
valleys.

Results of assessments made by the Mozambican government
and United Nations agencies working on crop supply,
indicate that the drought in the northern districts
of Cabo Delgado along the Tanzanian border extends
well into Tanzania. Negomano had been cut off from
the rest of the province for long periods since the
liberation struggle during the 60s or 70s. Food had
sometimes to be ferried often taking 12 days to reach
the isolated area. JosÈ LuÌs Castro,
head of the World Food Programme's northern regional
sub office, says there were once no roads to Negomano.
Then the Government authorities in Pemba used tractors
to open a roadway, and followed this with trucks carrying
food supplies and medicines. The second convoy sent
to Negomano last month took three days to complete
the journey. Costs of the Negomano operation are estimated
at about US$11 000. The tripartite mission is now discussing
new ways to conduct relief operations.

The WFP is already committed to providing 27 tonnes
of urgently needed maize, beans and vegetable oil for
the 3600 drought victims living in Negomano and the
seven hamlets that surround it. The WFP is to deliver
the food as far as the city of Mueda, about 400 km
from Pemba. There the food will be stored under the
responsibility of the DPCCN, who are in charge of transporting
it along the rough routes to the affected areas. "There
is the need to involve the local communities in the
creation of better conditions to transport relief to
their areas," said Domenico Scalpelli of the WFP.
This means that organizations involved in the operation
must carry out a new evaluation of the situation to
determine which groups of population would need free
assistance and those who would be integrated under
the work for food program.

1. MEDICINAL PLANTS IDENTIFIED IN AIDS TREATMENT

Two medicinal plants were recently identified in Mozambique
as effective in AIDS treatment. Both plants, the name
of which have not been disclosed, are abundant in all
Mozambique. They had been taken to Europe for laboratory
tests, with satisfactory results.

According to Doctor Adelaide Agostinho of the Medicinal
Plants Department at the Ministry of Health, Mozambique
has medicinal plants for treatment of several diseases.
"We'll continue our research on these plants,
instead of waiting for solutions from outside our country,"
she said. Apart from the two plants, another 11 plants
were identified by the Ministry of Health as useful
for the treatment of diseases like diarrhoea, asthma
and some sexually transmitted diseases.

2. IRON REDUCTION PLANT FOR BEIRA CITY

A project for iron reduction could be installed at Beira
city in central Mozambique in the near future and become
one of the world's largest undertakings of its kind.
The project due is to be realised by the South African
company JCI Limited (Johannesburg Consolidated Investment
Company Limited), which wants to make use of the low
production and transport costs as well as the largest
reserves of natural gas in the Temane and Buzi regions
of Sofala province.

The project is believed to be the best way to use the
natural gas potential existing in the region. The Mozambique
government invited ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Company
USA), to the Temane region, and Leopardos Resources
and Scimitar Hydrocarbons(Canada), to the Buzi region.
Investigations done by these companies have shown that
there is the potential of about three trillion cubic
meters of gas in the Temane region, which is more than
enough for the work of an iron reduction factory.

3. BUSINESSMEN UP IN ARMS OVER TAX EXEMPTIONS

Local business man are angry with the government after
its decision to facilitate the opening of a shopping
centre by providing tax exemptions on the centre's
"first portion" of goods. The shopping centre
is "SHOPRITE CHECKERS," a well known South
African chain with branches in several countries of
the Southern African region.

The government says that the policy of exemption from
tax would benefit the consumers by reducing the price
of goods and making the market more competitive. However,
local businessmen do not agree with this, saying that
all the formal and informal markets will disappear
when competing with a giant like "Shoprite".
'Nobody says how much is the "first portion"
that is free of taxes. Shoprite could bring hundreds
of thousands of dollars in goods, hundreds of lorries,
for the first portion,'an unidentified businessman
said.

"If the "first portion" is well controlled
and the prices not very different from the normal market,
there is no problem," said Mr. Alberto da Barca,
president of the Commercial Association of Mozambique.
But the problem is in that control, and after a wave
of protests government has said that "only goods
on shelves on the first day will be free of taxes".

4. POVERTY HELP TO NON-EXISTANT 50,000

The Mozambique state lost $16 billion "meticais"(local
currency), when they paid poverty relief subsidies
to more than 50.000 people who do not exist. This situation
took place last year, according to the Deputy Minister
of Planning and Finance, Ms. Luisa Diogo.

An audit made by Government concluded that only 35.000
people had the right to the subsidies in a listed group
of 90.000 people.

5. BANK WORKERS TO BE FIRED

More than 1500 workers of the recently privatised Commercial
Bank of Mozambique (BCM), could lose their jobs due
to the reorganisation of the Bank.

According to Helena Ferro of the Union of Bank Workers,
the situation is 'shameful' because there is only a
law which protects the employers. "They can rescind
our contracts and when we demand our rights, they throw
this law in our faces," she said.

The bank workers join the more than 90.000 workers forced
into unemployment due to provisoes recommended by the
IMF/WB.

6. HASH SEIZED IN QUISSANGA

A haul of 11 tonnes of hashish was seized by the police
in the Quissanga district of Cabo Delgado province,
northern Mozambique. From where the hashish came is
not known but it is believed to have been unloaded
from a large ship at sea and transferred to dry land
in small boats.

Nine people, who have not been identified, are already
under arrest in connection with the case. Police have
not released their names so as not to interfere with
the investigations underway.

The hashish is in bars and packed in bags with names
like Pakistan, India and Colombia. "A nutritional
product" was also printed on the bags. This is
the second case of narcotics seizure in Mozambique.
The first one, two years ago in Maputo, consisted of
40 tonnes. That case ended with the hashish being burned
and no one being charged.

Mozambique is well known as a corridor for drugs and
weapons due to its borders being poorly supervised.

7. STRIKERS ACCUSE DIRECTOR OF STEALING

Strikers at the National Data Processing Centre (CPD),
in Maputo have accused their director of stealing a
computer. Orlando Come had to spend several hours in
police custody while the charge was investigated. The
media used the workers as a source and on the following
day many were saying that the CPD director had been
jailed for robbery.

"I wasn't in detention. I just went there while
enquiries were made, as the workers had been to police
to denounce me as a robber," said Mr. Come. The
CPD director explained that he went to the Centre,
which was closed by the workers on strike, to lock
the server in order to protect all the data in the
computers. "I took a printer in order to be able
to continue the job away from the CPD, because we work
for thousands of people," he said.

CPD processes the salaries of more than 200.000 people,
including civil servants, military, retired people.
They are also involved with state taxes. The strike
has lasted for nearly two weeks. One of the workers'
demands is for their integration into the Ministry
of Planning and Finance. This strike could affect other
areas if there is a delay in the payment of salaries
.

8. FAITH IN WATER SPIRITS

In Inhambane in south Mozambique, there is a father
who five years after a shipwreck still believes that
his daughter will came back from the deep waters of
Inhambane bay.

In south Mozambique, there is a belief in "water
spirits" which can catch a person and turn them
into a healer. During the "training" with
the spirits , the chosen person remains under the sea.
According to some people in south Mozambique, in order
that the person is able to come back to normal life,
it is necessary to hold a traditional ceremony, a "bewitching".

"I have spent a lot of money for two ceremonies
but these "water spirits" are too strong,
and we failed. Now I'm trying again because we saw
my daughter seated on a rock, down there in the sea,"
the father of the girl said.

For this third ceremony, the father invited people
to a very expensive and, he believed, powerful bewitching.
He said, however, that again nothing happened after
many mystical acts and the beating of drums through
the night on the beach. The father has not given up
hope and says that he will keep waiting.

9. KWACHA VS. METICAL

In the Milange district of central Zambezia province,
the national currency , the METICAL, is not used. Instead,
in its place, the Malawi currency, the KWACHA is the
favoured currency.

According to one Milange dweller, the local population
does most of their shopping in Malawi, coming and going
by bicycle. They sell their goods in Milange using
Kwachas. No one accepts the Metical. "We don't
have shops here in Milange, this is the reason,"
explained the resident.

President Chissano, who recently visited the Zambezia
province and the Milange district, recognised that
border control is not efficient. There are only two
borders guards in the area. Milange had a good harvest
of maize last season, a surplus which still remains
to be sold. To cover their needs in other products,
especially the manufactured ones, the Milange people
take maize to sell in Malawi, and in return they buy
other products for resale in their regions.

Milange district, one of the largest districts of Zambezia
province and a big tea producer, borders Malawi.

10. NEW MOZAMBIQUE SOCCER STAR?

Francisco Macuacua, age 15, could in the near future
become a Dutch soccer star. He recently passed a test
made by EMMEN, an important soccer club in the Netherlands.
Macuacua might play soccer with the Erika Club, a satellite
team of EMMEN.

Francisco Macuacua is one of 166 streetkids making up
the "Street School," a project led by Rene
Boezard, directed to give education, orientation and
support to street kids. "Street School,"
has a football team through an agreement with a local
soccer club, Grupo Desportivo de Maputo, and it was
here that Francisco Macuacua started to shine. It was
Mr. Boezzard who was responsible for taking Francisco
to the Netherlands.